Lyric Theatre
213 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
213 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
11 people
favorited this theater
The Lyric Theatre was built in 1903 and designed by Victor Hugo Koehler. The theater had two entrances, the larger facade being on the 43rd Street side, in a mix of Renaissance Revival styles, and the smaller facade, resembling a brownstone mansion, on 42nd Street. Both were heavily decorated with sculpture, including figures of goddesses, masks, and of course, lyres. The Adam/Empire style interior of the theater featured an auditorium with two balconies, 18 boxes, and gilded plasterwork. The color scheme was originally light green and rose.
The Lyric Theatre was initially to have been leased to composer Reginald DeKoven as home to his American School of Opera, but the school went bankrupt before the theater was completed. It ended up being leased instead to the Shubert brothers as a legitimate stage. The Lyric Theatre ended its legitimate days in 1934. In order to survive during the Depression, it joined many other 42nd Street houses in becoming a movie theatre.
The Lyric Theatre remained a movie house into the 1990’s (by which time it was in poor shape) until in 1996, after its remaining architectural elements were removed, it joined the neighboring Apollo Theatre in being razed, replaced by the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, which fragments of both the Lyric Theatre and Apollo Theatre were reused in. Both 42nd and 43rd Street facades of both the Lyric Theatre and Apollo Theatre were also retained. Former Cineplex Odeon baron Garth Drabinsky envisioned the $36 million Ford Center as a home for his production of “Ragtime”, and would be the first new free-standing legitimate house built in Times Square in over 70 years. The Ford Center for the Performing Arts was later renamed the Hilton Theatre, and in 2011 became the Foxwoods Theatre.
Some of the information here was found in the books “Lost Broadway Theatres” by Nicholas Van Hoogstraten and “Broadway Theatres” by William Morrison.
Contributed by
Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 97 comments)
Here’s a link to a partial view of the Lyric’s original auditorium with two balconies: ibdb
LostMemory and Warren G. Harris both stopped posting in 2009. Where’d they go? They added so much to this site.
And, unfortunately, they took most of their links with them.
This Lyric is mentioned in the same newspaper ad as the one currently displayed at the listing for the RKO Alden Theatre for “Big Time.” The movie was apparently playing there, though the nearby National is the only theatre listed for Manhattan. Simultaneous 42nd Street bookings usually went unlisted in the press to “protect” mainstream midtown theatres from losing customers. The Lyric also had stage facilities for a personal appearance, while the National did not.
Here it is.
You put the “here it is” in square brackets [ ] and put the link itself in parentheses immediately following the close bracket (with no space).
I actually went right for the photo there, too. Original link was just for the thumbnail image.
Well, the Lyric shown in this ad is in New Jersey. But all these are problematic. In this one they show the Hempstead being in Queens and a Rialto in Riverhead. There never was a Rialto in Riverhead. There was the Capitol which became the Riverhead and the Suffolk. And, while I’m throwing names around, there used to be a Lyric in Oyster Bay which subsequently became the Oyster Bay.
Rob. Check the top of the ad. While the 42nd Street Lyric is not listed among the neighborhood houses showing the flick at the bottom of the ad, there is an announcement at the top of the ad for a live appearance by Smokey Robinson at this Lyric Theatre.
Wow, robboehm, it says right on the ad “Lyric 42nd Street between 7th and 8th” and the telephone number 730-0323. I called that number so many times over the years, it’s like a flashback seeing it again! (And rob, now may be a good time to use the “remove” option on your 4:48pm post!)
The movie playing in that image posted on January 28 is MONEY FROM HOME with Martin and Lewis. Originally released in 3-D, it opened flat in New York, first at the Paramount and then at Loew’s theaters throughout the five boroughs.